Minister airs ‘Cars for Bars’ plan for rural areas

A ‘Cars for Bars’ initiative to bring people to and from pub in rural areas has been suggested by a minister.

Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Transport, and Sport, Brendan Griffin, wants to introduce a scheme where people would volunteer to transport locals in the community for one night a month and, in turn, would be able to avail of the free service any other night they wished.

The Kerry TD has also suggested a Uber-like system could be introduced to bridge gaps in public transport in isolated areas.

Mr Griffin claimed there is no shortage of transport in rural Ireland, but that there is a shortage of available transport.

“Rural Ireland is full of cars, rural Ireland is full of buses, but the problem is they are not there when people need them or they are not readily available,” said Mr Griffin.

“I tried to set up a scheme in my own local parish at home called the Cars for Bars scheme.

“Basically, it was a roster of volunteers who, for one night in the month, would make themselves available to drive people to and from the local pub or wherever else they wanted to go in the community.

“The benefit for those volunteers was that for every other night in the month they have that service available to them, free of charge.

“We couldn’t initiate because the insurance companies wouldn’t cover it because it was a rostered arrangement and, therefore, there was a public transport element to it.

“This is the type of red tape and nonsense that we really need to be getting over.”

Mr Griffin has discussed the issue with Transport Minister Shane Ross, who has made contact with the insurance industry.

“That’s just one idea, something that could be very easily replicated in every rural community the length and breadth of the country,” he said.

“I want to see small pubs thriving into the future and surviving because they are an integral part of our tourism product.

“People come here to experience the small Irish rural pubs and we don’t want to see them closing; we want to see them living on and that’s why the Cars for Bars scheme that I was looking at was very important to me.”

Regarding a rural-based Uber-like system, Mr Griffin said: “We need to start thinking outside the box in terms of rural Ireland. We are never going to be able to afford the type of transport network in rural Ireland that we have in Dawson St or O’Connell St in Dublin or anywhere else like that.

“What we do need to do is to start embracing technology, we need to look at the likes of Uber, we need to start empowering local communities to help each other,” he said.